Ohio State basketball vs. Illinois State: Postgame grades

Zed Key was the first freshman off the bench and played well in his collegiate debut. He had 12 points on 3-4 shooting while going 6-9 from the free-throw line. He added 5 rebounds as well. It’s good to see someone make a concerted effort to get to the charity stripe. He needs to convert a little better when he gets there though.

I thought Key hustled very hard and played some excellent defense though. He has some good post skills and looks to be a good player for Ohio State to have off the bench.

The other freshman off the bench was Eugene Brown. Brown didn’t have his best game, only going 1-4 from the field with all of those being from three. He played hard on defense though and does have a good shooting stroke. He just needs some minutes.

The Buckeyes don’t need Ahrens to do much more than stand in the corner and hit threes. He went 2-4 from deep today and finished with just those 6 points. His defense is still a mess and because of that he likely won’t see too much time in games against good opponents.

This was Musa Jallow’s first game in two years, and it showed. He was 0-4 from the field and had two turnovers. He looked uncomfortable out there and Chris Holtmann could tell. This is his first competitive game in a while, so he gets a pass today. But if he wants more playing time, he has to be better.

The transfer from Bucknell was just….there. That’s about the best way to describe his presence. He didn’t do much offensively but also didn’t turn it over. He did get called for 5 fouls though, which is a problem. Sotos is still a good ballhandler to come off the bench.

The Buckeyes won’t use Diallo much because there’s no reason to. He’s slow on defense and uncoordinated on offense. But it’s always to get bench-warmers out there in the opener.

Hookfin won’t see too much action either. He is another benchwarmer who got in, but he actually looked good out there. He finished with 4 points.

The Buckeyes need to shoot better from three in other games. They were only 6-18 from behind the arc today. That should come with more minutes, but it wasn’t a great first showing in that regard.

It was great to see the Ohio State basketball team out there in any capacity. This team certainly has potential.